Such connecting devices and handles comprising connecting devices of this type have been known from the prior art. They are used in apparatus-assisted surgery and, in particular, in cryosurgery or water jet surgery, wherein operations on human and animal tissue are possible with the use of an appropriately equipped surgical instrument. Considering such surgical instruments, it is necessary in most cases that an application fluid, or a similarly acting fluid, be delivered to a grip element via a pressure hose, and then fed by way of said grip element to an application head such as for example, an application nozzle or a cryogenic probe.
Due to the sterility requirements that are applicable to such surgical instruments, the connecting device used for connecting the pressure hose(s) with the grip element is subject to strict requirements. Referring, in particular, to such grip instruments that, after use, are placed in an automatic washer for machine washing, for example, it is highly necessary that the connecting device be configured such that a lasting seal and an inexpensive connection between the pressure hose and the grip element, or a connector provided on said grip element, be ensured.
Prior art has disclosed connecting devices or handles for surgical instruments, in which the pressure hose is connected, via a screw connection, with the grip element. To accomplish this, an O-ring or a similar sealing element is compressed in an axial direction, creating a radially sealing connection fastening the hose to the grip element in a sealing manner. Because of the screw connection, the pressure hose is additionally compressed such that an axial tensile load acting on the hose can be removed.
There is a problem that a solution-resistant connection cannot be ensured beyond the desired number of processing operations due to the setting and flow behavior of the plastic pressure hose. In addition, it is sometimes possible for deformations to occur due to the axial compression of the O-ring caused by the high compressive forces; the deformations being above the permissible range, leading to premature failure or to an irreversible deformation of the sealing element.